POT CAFE OPENS, HAS POLICE WATCHING

MONTREAL - (AP) -- Several dozen Montrealers experienced high times on
Saturday as a marijuana cafe opened its doors less than a block away
from a police station.

Pot smoking is illegal in Canada, although Ottawa has proposed
legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of
marijuana.

Hugo St-Onge, leader of Quebec's Bloc Pot party, was all smiles as he
cut a red, black and green ribbon and declared the cafe officially
open.

"It's time to stop the persecution," St-Onge said on the cafe steps as
trucks passed by honking support.

"Here at Chez Marijane, [people] can come to express themselves and
share their culture in a friendly and secure environment."

The cafe will not sell pot, but people can bring their own to smoke,
St-Onge said.

Antoine Debast, 23, peered through a thick haze of smoke at the hustle
and bustle at Chez Marijane.

"The music, the atmosphere, it's amazing," he said. "This is more like
a rave than a cafe."

Police said they would enforce the law and were keeping an eye on the
cafe Saturday, but they had not intervened by late afternoon.

The Bloc Pot party was formed in 1998 with a platform to legalize
marijuana in Quebec. The party fielded 56 candidates in provincial
elections last April, earning 23,000 votes, or 0.6 percent of 3.8
million votes cast, the party's website said.

Officials in the United States have spoken out against any plan by
Ottawa to decriminalize marijuana possession in Canada, saying it
could inflate already burgeoning cross-border pot smuggling.

The United States Drug Enforcement Agency estimates smuggling from the
western province of British Columbia alone is worth more than $1
billion a year.